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Thermal performance of a PCB embedded pulsating heat pipe for power

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Article  in  Applied Thermal Engineering · December 2015

DOI: 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2015.11.123

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 Applied Thermal Engineering 98 (2016) 798–809

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Applied Thermal Engineering

j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s e v i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / a p t h e r m e n g

Research Paper

Thermal performance of a PCB embedded pulsating heat pipe for

power electronics applications
Daniel J. Kearney *, Omar Suleman, Justin Griffin, Georgios Mavrakis
ABB Corporate Research Centre, Baden-Dättwil, Argau, Switzerland

H I G H L I G H T S

• Planar, compact PCB embedded pulsating heat pipe for heat spreading applications.
• Embedded heat pipe operates at sub-ambient pressure with environmentally.
• Compatible fluids.
• Range of optimum operating conditions, orientations and fill ratios identified.

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Article history: Low voltage power electronics applications (<1.2 kV) are pushing the design envelope towards in-
Received 30 June 2015 creased functionality, better reliability, low profile and reduced cost. One packaging method to enable
Accepted 29 November 2015 these constraints is the integration of active power electronic devices into the printed circuit board im-
Available online 23 December 2015
proving electrical and thermal performance. This development requires a reliable passive thermal
management solution to mitigate hot spots due to the increased heat flux density. To this end, a 44 channel
Keywords:
open looped pulsating heat pipe (OL-PHP) is experimentally investigated for two independent dielec-
Pulsating heat pipe
tric working fluids – NovecTM 649 and NovecTM 774 – due to their lower pressure operation and low global
Novec
Thermal management of electronics warming potential compared to traditional two-phase coolants. The OL-PHP is investigated in vertical
Integrated (90°) orientation with fill ratios ranging from 0.30 to 0.70. The results highlight the steady state oper-
Printed circuit board ating conditions for each working fluid with instantaneous plots of pressure, temperature, and thermal
resistance; the minimum potential bulk thermal resistance for each fill ratio and the effective thermal
conductivity achievable for the OL-PHP.
© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Traditional power electronic devices which operate on printed
circuit board (PCB) technology do so as surface mounted compo-
nents. These discrete components – while low cost – incur significant
performance restrictions such as device switching speeds, system
inductances, reliability and thermal performance. Power electron-
ic systems are now tending towards new levels of complexity and
increased power density which demand novel, efficient thermal
management solutions. One such advancement in low voltage ap-
plications (<1.2 kV) is the integration of active power electronic
devices, such as IGBTs and diodes, into the printed circuit board,
improving electrical and thermal performance. This paradigm shift
in packaging enhances functionality and system performance by per-
mitting shorter current transmission paths while simultaneously
improving reliability and reducing thermal resistances (Fig. 1).
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +41 58 58 68064; fax: +41 58 586 4006.
E-mail address: daniel.kearney@ch.abb.com (D.J. Kearney).
According to the iNEMI roadmap 2009 [1], effective thermal man-
agement remains the key enabler in accommodating this technology
shift whereby the cooling solution is reliable, energy efficient and
low cost. In compact electronic systems, one of the key require-
ments is the primary transport of high concentrations of thermal
energy from the source – normally the IGBT or diode – to a cooler
region where it is removed to ambient as demonstrated by Refer-
ence 2. To this end, heat pipes have been considered as the best
method of local heat transport in an electronic device. However,
while traditional heat pipes are passive, light weight and readily
present in contemporary electronic systems, the ability to embed
them directly in the PCB for direct cooling is still an immature tech-
nology confined to laboratory prototypes such as in Reference 3.
One solution to this issue is to micro-machine a heat pipe di-
rectly in the FR-4 substrate. FR-4 is a composite material composed
of woven fiberglass cloth with an epoxy resin binder that is flame
resistant. This mature routing process is readily available in printed
circuit board fabrication and requires no additional manufactur-
ing techniques. From an integration perspective, the heat pipe can
operate with dielectric fluids at sub-ambient pressures, inducing

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2015.11.123
1359-4311/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 D.J. Kearney et al./Applied Thermal Engineering 98 (2016) 798–809
Fig. 1. An illustration of a 3D power electronic architecture in a printed circuit board.
less stresses in the electronic packaging layers and maintaining con-
ventional reliability performance. An ideal variant of heat pipe
suitable for such integrated is the Open Loop Pulsating Heat Pipe
(OL-PHP). The OL-PHP’s conduits may be arranged in a planar ori-
entation which is ideally suited to the low profile form factor of a
PCB.
1.1. The OL-PHP: operating principle and critical parameters
Patented by Akachi in 1990 [4], the pulsating heat pipe (PHP)
is a wickless heat pipe consisting of a single serpentine conduit as
illustrated in Fig. 2. The variant of PHP under investigation in this
study is referred to as an OL-PHP and is been chosen in this study
due to the ease at which it can be routed in the FR4 material around
the components, ensuring flexible design and custom cooling for
specific PCB layouts. The walls of the OL-PHP can be coated with a
nickel based layer of several microns, ensuring impermeability and
a low surface roughness (~2 μm) as shown in Fig. 3. The layers are
diffusion bonded together forming a monolithic substrate encap-
sulating the PHP. The function of the OL-PHP is to decrease the
thermal resistance of the substrate and transfer the heat to a lo-
cation where it can be rejected to ambient. The conduit is initially
evacuated and then partially filled with a working fluid, which ori-
entates itself naturally into a series of liquid plugs and vapor slugs
inside the capillary conduit.
During operation the PHP is heated at one end, and cooled at
the other end, with an adiabatic section between. As temperature
Fig. 2. Open loop pulsating heat pipe operation principle.
799
Fig. 3. Image of two PCBs with an exposed embedded meandering mini-channel.
The exposed channel is closed with a transparent window during test.
increases in the heated region, liquid evaporates, and the vapor pres-
sure increases. Local increases in pressure cause the bubbles to act
as pumping elements, pushing liquid from the evaporator. These
pressure changes do not occur uniformly from channel to channel,
so the resulting fluctuations are chaotic, self sustained oscillations
of the liquid phase. Latent heat transfer is responsible for generat-
ing the driving pressure fluctuations in a PHP. However, in many
cases a significant portion of thermal energy transport from the evap-
orator to the condenser is a result of sensible heat transfer. As liquid
slugs pass through the evaporator they heat up, and are then pushed
towards the condenser, where they reject this heat.
Despite the elementary construction of the PHP, the physics gov-
erning their behaviour are complex and their performance is effected
by many different parameters including channel geometry and the
thermo-fluidic properties of the fluid. In order for the pulsatile flow
to occur, the characteristic dimension of the channel must be such
that surface tension forces dominate gravitational forces, and the
fluid separates into distinct randomly distributed liquid slugs and
vapor plugs. The dimensionless number which is used to charac-
terize this is the Bond number (also referred to as the Eötvös
number).
g ( ρl − ρv )D 2
Bo = (1)
σ
In order for this separation to occur, the hydraulic diameter must
be less than some critical diameter, which can be found by solving
Eq. 1 for D
σ Bo
D= (2)
g ( ρl − ρv )
According to White and Beardmore’s experimental work [5], ter-
minal bubble velocity approaches zero around Bocrit = 4 , meaning
that for Bo < 4, surface tension dominates gravitational forces. In light
of this, Dcrit can be defined as
σ
Dcrit = 2 (3)
g ( ρl − ρv )
In addition to, and perhaps most importantly from an integra-
tion perspective, the OL-PHP can operate with dielectric fluids at
sub-ambient pressures inducing less stresses in the electronic
packaging layers and maintaining conventional reliability
800 D.J. Kearney et al./Applied Thermal Engineering 98 (2016) 798–809
Table 1
Fluid properties at 20 °C for Novec 649, 774 with water and ethanol included for comparison.
ρl ρv
Fluid [kg/m3] [kg/m3]
Water 998.16 0.0173
Nov. 649 1617.70 4.3232
Nov. 774 1682.56 1.8114
Ethanol 800.00 0.085
performance. Two such dielectric fluids are NovecTM 649 and 774
from 3M. NovecTM 649 and 774 are synthetic non ozone-depleting
fluids with a global warming potential (GWP) of 1 (equal to that
of naturally occurring carbon dioxide) and has an atmospheric life-
time of only 5 days. This GPW is two orders of magnitude lower
than many HFCs currently used in two-phase cooling systems. The
thermo-fluidic properties of the coolant are detailed in Table 1 in-
cluding density of both liquid and vapor, surface tension and critical
diameter.
1.2. Current PHP studies
Considering the potential of the PHP for heat spreading, Thomp-
son et al. [6] measured the thermal performance of a flat-plate
oscillating heat pipe operating as a heat spreader possessing two
layers of 1.02 mm ± 1.02 mm minichannels, and was charged with
acetone to a filling ratio of approximately 80%. The results clearly
indicated that the flat-plate oscillating heat pipe is capable of op-
erating in the thermal spreading mode, providing for a 10–15%
reduction in total thermal resistance (relative to pure copper) and
managing heat inputs up to 230 W (25 W/cm2) with the maximum
surface temperature not exceeding 100 °C.
Yang et al. [7] investigated the behaviour of a PHP machined into
an aluminium plate as a possible integrated heat spreader. Two flat
plate closed looped PHPs (CLPHP) were constructed, both ma-
chined into 180 mm ± 120 mm ± 3 mm aluminium plates, one
with 40 channels (2 mm ± 2 mm) and one with 66 channels
(1 mm ± 1 mm), with ethanol as the working fluid while varying fill
ratio, heat load, and orientation. Minimum thermal resistance of less
than 0.3K/W was achieved, as well as a maximum heat load of nearly
400W. It was concluded that filling ratio has a strong effect on per-
formance and that the optimal filling ratio is dependent on the
operating orientation. Enhancement was seen when the gravity
vector was favourable; however, performance in orientations where
the device had to work against gravity was still satisfactory. It was
also noted that device performance was best at higher heat loads,
as this increased the pumping power of vapor bubbles.
In 2011, Hemardi et al. [8] tested CL-PHPs with 11-turns, 2.0 mm
ID copper tubing embedded in substrates of aluminium and mild
steel, using ethanol and water as working fluids. The key conclu-
sion of their work is that an embedded PHP only has a noticeable
effect on thermal spreading ability in systems where substrate con-
duction limits heat transfer (i.e. low conductivity materials).
Pastukhov and Maydanik [9] reported a hybrid heat transfer
system in 2012, which couples a FP-CLPHP and a loop heat pipe (LHP)
in order to provide cooling to “a source of heat distributed over a
sufficiently large surface when the heat sink is at a distance which
exceeds considerably the dimensions of the source”. This concept
takes advantage of short-range efficiency and ease of construction
associated with PHPs, and couples this the with the long-range heat
transport ability of an LHP. The PHP in this setup was a 1.3 mm ID
copper tube with 7 turns mounted to an aluminium plate. It was
partially charged with R141b to a fill ratio of 50%. Thermal resis-
tance of the PHP was between 0.12 K/W and 0.30 K/W, which over
most of the heat load range accounted for half of the thermal
resistance of the entire device (at extreme low and high heat fluxes
σ hv k cp Dcrit
[N/m] [kJ/kg] [W/mK] [kJ/kgK] [mm]
0.0727 2270 0.580 4.183 5.44
0.0108 88 0.059 1.103 1.70
0.0123 90 0.060 1.130 1.73
0.0220 1030 0.179 2.400 3.34
it accounted for 30% and 70%, respectively.) Performance was found
to be orientation dependent, a fact which is attributed to the low
number of turns.
Burban et al. [10] demonstrate an OLPHP considered for auto-
motive applications as a method for electronic thermal management.
The work investigated the performance of four coolants including
water, acetone, n-pentane and methanol. The prototype demon-
strated up to 550W of heat removal with bulk thermal resistances
as low as 0.175 K/W. While the solution was not embedded, it did
maintain the heat losses of an Integrated-Gate Bipolar Transistor
pack throughout its operational cycle.
It is clear there is much research in the area of PHPs; however,
it is also evident the majority of research in PHPs has focused on
optimising the performance of the CL-PHP. The current study focuses
on an OL-PHP embedded in a PCB board in order to address a ho-
listic thermal management solution which evaluates the thermal
performance while remaining within the limits and requirements
of power electronic packaging.
2. Experimental set-up
The OL-PHP investigated in this study is a
575 mm × 158 mm × 2.3 mm FR4 material with 7 copper inlays
and 10 micron gold surface plating which has interconnected chan-
nels machined on one side of it forming a meandering open loop
as shown in Fig. 3. There are 44 parallel channels with a length of
442 mm and 26 turns with outer-wall radii of 3.5 mm. Channel
shape plays an important role, as fluid can accumulate in sharp
corners, changing the flow regime from a slug-plug type flow to
annular, where vapor flows through the centre of the channel and
liquid counter flows in these sharp corners, essentially turning
each channel into an independent thermo-syphon. Due to the
tolerances of the routing procedure, accurate measurement of the
channel surface roughness, width and depth was conducted in
accordance with standard DIN EN ISO 4287:1998 using a micro-
scope and optical profilometer. The mean roughness, width,
Wavg , and depth, Davg , are 2.286 μm, 1.551 mm ± 0.023 mm and
1.900 mm ± 0.019 mm respectively.
The objective of the experimental facility – as described in Fig. 4
– is to characterise the bulk thermal performance of the OL-PHP
for: variations in applied heat flux at the evaporating section; ori-
entation and filling ratio. The facility also allows the acquisition of
a system pressure measurement during steady state operation.
The transparent polycarbonate cover on the OL-PHP enables a
qualitative analysis of fluid regimes in the evaporator, adiabatic and
condensing sections of the OL-PHP. The experimental set up is com-
prised of an evaporator section, a water-cooled cold plate and a
LabVIEW data acquisition system (DAQ). A PTFE block mechanical-
ly supports the board, heater and cold plate while providing
insulation to the rear of the board minimising heat loss. The evap-
orator section consists of a copper block (145 mm × 50 mm × 10 mm)
with three embedded cartridge heaters. The heater block is press
fit onto the board due to the clamping force between the board and
the PTFE holder. During testing, the electrical power to the heaters
is regulated via a Eurotherm TE10A power controller which
manipulates the main 230V AC signal. The heaters are controlled
 D.J. Kearney et al./Applied Thermal Engineering 98 (2016) 798–809 801

Fig. 4. Schematic of experimental facility.

directly via the DAQ system. The inlet water to the cold plate is fed plugs and vapor slugs inside the capillary conduit due to the dom-
directly from a water bath (LAUDA RE 207) and remains at a con- inance of surface tension forces.
stant flow-rate of 1.67 l/min and temperature during testing.
The positions of the temperature measurement points are as in- 2.1. Data reduction and uncertainty analysis
dicated in Fig. 4. All thermocouples used to measure surface and
coolant temperatures were K-type and calibrated in-house by com- Great care was taken to evaluate heat loss during operation,
paring their measurement (from 5 °C to 95 °C) to an Omega DP97 considering both convection and radiative losses. The PCB board
high accuracy digital thermometer (with an accuracy greater than was discretized into zones which a corresponding thermocouples
0.04 °C). The resulting average maximum deviation is ± 0.1 °C. A local reading as per Fig. 4. Each zone had a corresponding temperature
system pressure and temperature measurement is taken at posi- measurement and this was used as an initial condition to evaluate
tion A (Fig. 4) and is representative of internal conditions during
evacuation, filling, and operation. Absolute pressure is measured by
an Omega PX481 pressure transducer with an operating range of
0–2.07 bar. Care was taken to ensure the smallest process connec-
tions were used (1/8″ MNPT) to minimise the internal volume of
the instrumentation port.
The channel array is covered by a 5 mm optically transparent
polycarbonate plate (Fig. 5) allowing real time video imaging of the
flow regimes. In order to ensure the channels are isolated from
neighbouring channels (communication between adjacent chan-
nels could disrupt the pulsatile motion), a 250 μm sheet of optically
transparent silicone (Rogers-Bisco HT-6240) is placed between the
PCB and the polycarbonate plate. The global seal between the heat
pipe and the ambient is achieved using a 2 mm diameter Viton
O-ring, which is seated in a groove in the polycarbonate (1.4 mm
depth by 2.5 mm width as per design guidelines for face-type seals)
[11,12]. A thin layer of vacuum grease is applied to the o-ring before
sealing to make up for imperfections in the sealing surfaces.
Prior to operation, the test section is evacuated and then par-
tially filled with the de-gassed working fluid. Precise filling of the
OL-PHP is achieved using a gas tight charging syringe. When the Fig. 5. An image of the physical set-up including the transparent polycarbonate plate
fluid enters the PHP, it orientates itself naturally into a series of liquid to allow visual access to the OL-PHP during operation.
802 D.J. Kearney et al./Applied Thermal Engineering 98 (2016) 798–809

Table 2 3.1. Pressure trends during operation

Primary uncertainty variables.

Variable Meter Uncertainty In 2012 Taft et al. [14] conducted a pertinent review of the various
T K-Type thermocouple ±0.1 °C dielectric working fluids where they highlighted the importance of
V Graduated syringe ±1% of reading surface tension and density in sizing the PHP for operation in varying
p Omega PX481A ±0.3% of reading gravitational environments and the role of the thermo-physical prop-
U HP 973A ±1% erties at PHP start-up. In both fluids considered in this study, the
I HP 974A ±1%
V Gemü 857 flow meter ±13% of reading
low latent heat of vaporisation allows for start up at a lower heat
M Digital scale ±0.1 g flux. The critical start up heat flux is defined as the minimum heat
flux required to produce sustained steady-state operation. Each test
was run until the dry-out condition was achieved in the evaporator.
Table 3 During steady-state operation of the OL-PHP, oscillating liquid
Uncertainty of derived variables. plugs and vapor slugs are observed throughout the adiabatic section
Variable Derivation Maximum uncertainty as shown in Fig. 6. A steady-state criterion cannot be conclusively
P UIRMS ±1.4W
identified by qualitative observation alone due to the spatial tem-
FR V coolant V PHP ±0.3% poral variations in fluid properties throughout the device without
q ρQ v C p ΔTcp ±5W coinciding local temperature and pressure measurements. The steady
Rth ΔT PHP q in ±0.004 °C/W state temperature distribution throughout the OL-PHP is shown for
NovecTM 649 in Fig. 7.
Figs. 8 and 9 illustrate instantaneous plots of the internal pres-
sure and the ΔTavg of the OL-PHP as a function of time for NovecTM
the local losses. The front side thermal distribution was also evalu-
649 with an FR = 0.50 and NovecTM 774 with an FR = 0.40 in the ver-
ated using IR measurement.The summation of these losses was then
tical orientation and with a data acquisition frequency of 2 Hz. The
compared with the measured losses at the condenser. Having mea-
corresponding heat flux and the instantaneous thermal resistance
sured the heat flow into the evaporator and out of the condenser,
of the device are also indicated. From both figures it is clear there
the losses were calculated with Equation 4.
are operational zones in which there are vigorous pulsations iden-
q losses ,meas = q evap − q cond = 0.992Pmeas − m water C p ,water ΔTwater (4) tified by pressure perturbations within the OL-PHP. In general, the
larger the perturbation amplitude, the greater the plug-slug move-
The cooling capacity of the condenser is calculated from the ment within the OL-PHP and the greater the heat transfer.
following equation: Examining the NovecTM 649, it is clear that large pressure varia-
tions can be seen in Fig. 8 for 0.4W/cm2 ≤ q″ ≤ 2.2W/cm2. As the
 p (Tout − Tin )
q cond = Mc (5) amplitude of these pressure perturbations increases, the corre-
sponding thermal resistance of the OL-PHP device decreases due
where M is the mass flow rate, cp is the specific heat capacity at to the increased pulsatile heat transfer mechanism within the OL-
constant pressure, Tout and Tin are the outlet and inlet tempera- PHP. This is due to the development of a larger vapor fraction and
ture of the water, respectively. The total thermal resistance is hence increasing bubble development developing in the OL-PHP at
obtained from Eqn 6 as follows: FR = 0.40 which is the driver of increased slug-plug oscillations as
represented and annotated in Fig. 10a and b respectively. Converse-
Tevap ,avg − Tcond ,avg ly, this motion diminishes when an excessively high vapour fraction
Rth = (6)
q in is formed in the evaporator. This shift changes the oscillating
frequency and ultimately the net heat transfer. Hence, the ΔT
where Tevap ,avg and Tcond ,avg represent the average temperatures of between evaporator and condenser increases and the device ap-
the evaporator and condenser receptively. q in is the applied heat proaches dry-out.
load at the evaporator.
The fill ratio, FR, of the OL-PHP is calculated as the ratio of
coolant charge volume versus the available volume in the heat pipe
mathematically described as follows:

V fluid
FR = (7)
V PHP

The uncertainty associated with each primary measurement vari-

able is presented in Table 2. In order to determine experimental
uncertainty of derived variables, the Kline–McClintock method [13]
was applied to the primary variable and the uncertainty of the
derived variables are presented in Table 3.

3. Results

The operational conditions and thermal bulk performance results

for the OL-PHP using both NovecTM 649 and NovecTM 774 are de-
tailed in the following sections. The bulk thermal performance is
presented in terms of thermal resistance as a function of applied
heat flux considering at 90° vertical orientation and filling ratio. All
results presented were obtained at pseudo steady-state operation Fig. 6. During steady-state operation of the OL–PHP, oscillating liquid plugs and vapor
defined by a constant evaporator temperature over several minutes. slugs are throughout the adiabatic section.
 D.J. Kearney et al./Applied Thermal Engineering 98 (2016) 798–809 803

Fig. 7. Temperature distribution of Novec 649 as a function of local position of a fill ratio of FR = 0.50 for heat fluxes ranging from 0.3 to 1.8 W/cm2.

Considering the OL-PHP operating with NovecTM 774 as the
operating fluid, it is evident the onset of pseudo steady-state pul-
sations occurs between 0.7W/cm2 and 1W/cm2. This is at a greater
heat flux to that of NovecTM 649. Prior to this, it is conjectured
that the predominant heat transfer mechanism with the OL-PHP
in this orientation for NovecTM 774 is gravity dependent, whereby
the liquid is allowed to reflux within individual channels. Fig. 10b
describes this reflux action as vapour rising through the centre of
the channel and the condensed liquid and returning as a liquid
film.
The onset of pulsatile motion occurred in both fluids at unique
respective evaporator temperatures and these unique Tevap can be
correlated with the (dp dT )sat for each fluid as shown in Fig. 11. The
corresponding Tevap for NovecTM 649 and NovecTM 774 is approxi-
mately 41 °C and 52 °C respectively. This corresponds to a minimum
(dp dT )sat in both cases of approximately 0.026 bar/K. This can be
established as the minimum (dp dT )sat at which the OL-PHP can
operate effectively with these synthetic fluids whereby the domi-
nant heat transfer mechanism is now the oscillatory motion of the
liquid slug and vapour plugs.

Fig. 8. Instantaneous trends of p, Δ T, Rth , q″ as a function of time for NovecTM 649 with FR = 0.50 at 90°.
804 D.J. Kearney et al./Applied Thermal Engineering 98 (2016) 798–809

Fig. 9. Instantaneous trends of p, Δ T, Rth and q″ as a function of time for NovecTM 774 with FR = 0.40 at 90°.

3.2. Thermal performance at 90° orientation for both working fluids
At pseudo steady-state operation, the corresponding evapora-
tor, Tevap , and condenser temperature Tcond are recorded and the
average bulk thermal resistance of the device is calculated from Eqn
6. Examining the bulk thermal performance of the OL-PHP in the
vertical orientation for each fluid as a function of applied heat flux
in Figs. 12, 13, 14 and 15, it can be observed that the common trend
to each fill ratio is the monotonically decreasing thermal resistance
as a function of increasing heat flux, q″. The second key finding is
the superior thermal performance of the NovecTM 649 versus the
NovecTM 774 across the entire measured range most notably at
FR = 0.30 where the oscillatory fluid motion in the NovecTM 649 is
most vigorous. In each case, the heat flux was increased until dry-
out occurred in the evaporator and the evaporator temperature no
longer remained at the pre-defined pseudo steady-state.

Fig. 10. Image (a) shows a magnified image of a vapor slug while image (b) graph-
ically demonstrates the OL-PHP operating in a typical thermo-syphon mode whereby
the upward vapour flow through the channel core and liquid counterflow in the Fig. 11. The (dp dT )sat of several coolants as a function of temperature. Water and
channel corners is identified by arrows. ethanol have been included for comparison.
 D.J. Kearney et al./Applied Thermal Engineering 98 (2016) 798–809 805

Thermal Resistance FR=0.3

1.6
o
90 Novec 649
90o Novec 774

1.4

1.2
Thermal Resistance [K/W]

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
Applied Heat Flux [W/cm2]

Fig. 12. Thermal resistance, Rth, for both NovecTM 649 and 774 as a function of applied heat flux, q″, for a FR = 0.30.

Thermal Resistance FR=0.4

1.8
o
90 Novec 649
o
90 Novec 774
1.6

1.4
Thermal Resistance [K/W]

1.2

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
Applied Heat Flux [W/cm2]

Fig. 13. Thermal resistance, Rth, for both NovecTM 649 and 774 as a function of applied heat flux, q″, for a FR = 0.40.
806 D.J. Kearney et al./Applied Thermal Engineering 98 (2016) 798–809

Thermal Resistance FR=0.5

3
o
90 Novec 649
o
90 Novec 774

2.5

2
Thermal Resistance [K/W]

1.5

0.5

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
Applied Heat Flux [W/cm2]

Fig. 14. Thermal resistance, Rth, for both NovecTM 649 and 774 as a function of applied heat flux, q″, for a FR = 0.50.

Thermal Resistance FR=0.7

3.5
o
90 Novec 649
o
90 Novec 774

2.5
Thermal Resistance [K/W]

1.5

0.5

0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8
Applied Heat Flux [W/cm2]

Fig. 15. Thermal resistance, Rth, for both NovecTM 649 and 774 as a function of applied heat flux, q″, for a FR = 0.70.
 D.J. Kearney et al./Applied Thermal Engineering 98 (2016) 798–809
Thermal Resistance for 90 degree orientation
4
3
Thermal Resistance [K/W]
0
0 0.5
Applied Heat Flux [W/cm2]
Fig. 16. Thermal resistance, Rth, of NovecTM 649 as a function of applied heat flux, q″, at 90° for all fill ratios.
At FR = 0.70 (Fig. 15), the difference in thermal performance of
both fluids is less obvious. This is most probably due to the reduced
pulsating motion of the OL-PHP at higher fill ratios and the thermal
conductivity and heat capacity of the fluid playing a larger role in
the overall net heat transfer.
The thermal resistance as a function of applied heat flux for all
fill ratios for each working fluid is reported in Figs. 16 and 17 re-
spectively. It is apparent that at very low heat flux, higher fill ratio
is advantageous. If the flux is not high enough to drive vigorous
bubble movement, then it is advantageous to have more liquid in
the evaporator to absorb the heat where heat transfer will be pri-
marily sensible. Once the fluid starts moving, however, it is more
advantageous to have a greater vapor fraction in the evaporator, as
this essentially increases the bubble pumping power. It is conjec-
tured that this occurs once heat flux is sufficient to induce a larger
vapor fraction in the coolant driving bulk movement. Further
evidence of this pusatile motion is discussed in sub-section 3.3 in
terms of bulk pressure variations with the OL-PHP.
3.3. Effective thermal conductivity of the OL-PHP
Current PCB thermal management techniques which alleviate hot
spots and spread heat are typically based upon conduction using
thick copper layers [15]. Fig. 18 illustrates the effective thermal con-
ductivity of the OL-PHP with each dielectric working fluid.
Considering the thermal conductivity of copper of 401W/mK, it is
evident that the use of such an OL-PHP within a PCB employing these
dielectric working fluids cannot only reduce the weight of the board
but also thermally outperform the copper with a 12.5 times higher
thermal conductivity for NovecTM 649.
807
70% FR
50% FR
40% FR
30% FR
1 1.5 2 2.5
4. Conclusions
In this research, a novel 44 channel open looped pulsating heat
pipe (OL-PHP) characterised with two dielectric working fluids –
NovecTM 649 and NovecTM 774 – whereby the specific operating limits
and conditions are identified as applicable to embedded power elec-
tronics cooling. Instantaneous internal bulk pressure measurements
were reported for NovecTM 649 at FR = 0.50 and NovecTM 774 at
FR = 0.40 at 90° orientation. In both cases the amplitude of the bulk
oscillations was quantified. The following conclusions can be drawn
from this experimental study:
1. Bulk thermal behaviour and heat transfer performance are highly
dependent on fill ratio, orientation and the thermo-physical prop-
erties of the working fluid.
2. NovecTM 649 shows significant potential as an appropriate di-
electric cooling fluid for operation in an OLPHP integrated in a
PCB. The thermal resistance of his dielectric fluid decreased to
a local minimum of 0.2K/W at 0.40 fill ratio for an applied heat
flux of approximately 2.5W/cm2 at 90°.
3. Instantaneous internal bulk pressure measurements were re-
ported for NovecTM 649 at FR = 0.50 and NovecTM 774 at FR = 0.40
at 90° orientation. In both cases the amplitude of the bulk os-
cillations was quantified. These perturbations were symptomatic
indicators of oscillating coolant motion within the OL-PHP and
corresponding to enhanced heat transfer and a stable evapora-
tor temperature.
4. A fluid with a high (dp dT )sat has proven to be beneficial to
initiate a pulsating motion particularly at low FR where the os-
cillating motion of the slug-plug mixture is a principal net heat
transfer mechanism.
808 D.J. Kearney et al./Applied Thermal Engineering 98 (2016) 798–809

Thermal Resistance for 90 degree orientation

70% FR
50% FR
40% FR
4
30% FR

3
Thermal Resistance [K/W]

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
Applied Heat Flux [W/cm2]

Fig. 17. Thermal resistance, Rth, of NovecTM 774 as a function of applied heat flux, q″, at 90° for all fill ratios.

5. Pulsatile motion within the OL-PHP for both fluids was estab-
lished to be at a minimum (dp dT )sat of approximately 0.026 bar/K.
6. For identical geometry and operating conditions, NovecTM 649
demonstrates superior thermal performance to that of NovecTM 774
due to its earlier start up condition and more vigorous oscillations.
While the findings clearly demonstrate the potential of the OL-
PHP as heat spreading device in embedded power electronics, further
investigations are necessary to develop a design methodology which
considers the heat source position and heat density prior to im-
plementation in integrated power electronic applications.

Thermal Conductivity for FR=0.3 Nomenclature

5000
cp Specific heat [J/kgK]
4500 g Acceleration due to gravity [m/s2]
q Heat rate [W]
4000 D Diameter [m]
M Mass [kg]
Thermal Conductivity [W/mK]

3500 M Mass flow rate [kg/s]

Bo Bond number [-]
3000 FR Filling ratio [-]
p Pressure [Pa]
P Electrical power [W]
2500
U Voltage [V]
I Current [A]
2000
Rth Thermal resistance [K/W]
T Temperature [K]
1500
V Volume [m3]
V Volumetric flow rate [m3/s]
1000 °
90 Novec 649 σ Surface tension [N/m]
°
90 Novec 774
500 Subscripts
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
amb Ambient
Applied Heat Flux [W/cm2]
avg Average
Fig. 18. Effective thermal conductivity, k, of NovecTM 649 and 774 as a function of coolant Coolant
applied heat flux, q″, at 90° for FR = 0.30. cond Condenser
 D.J. Kearney et al./Applied Thermal Engineering 98 (2016) 798–809 809

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